Understanding Art – In introduction to Indian temples, Art and architecture

With a mission to encourage awareness in Indian culture and Art, ‘Dharohar’ and ‘PN Choyal Memorial Trust’ are jointly organizing this year’s ‘Understanding Art’ series of lectures for Udaipur citizens from July 1 through July 5, 2018.

As per Shail Choyal of PN Choyal Memorial Trust, the session Understanding Art will be held at the PP Singhal auditorium in the Udaipur Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Madri.

This five day talk series on “Indian Temples – Art and Architecture” will be held each day between 7PM till 9:15PM.

There will be a total of 10 interactive session with five scholars who will use images to guide us through India’s great temples.

Head, Dept of Arts, History and Aesthetics, Faculty of Art at Maharaja Syajirao University, Baroda; Curator at Art shows like Satyagraha, Chronicles of the Unspoken, Parables of Thread and Chalo India.

Ananya Singhal

Chief People, Services and Infrastructure, Secure Meters, Udaipur. Been a student of Architecture at University and designs furniture and buildings as a passion.

Dr P Jha

Cultural Informatics at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi

Event Details

Participation Fee for the entire program is Rs. 1,000 per head. For students of Arts and Architecture, Rs. 500. For registration please contact Suveer Baxi on 91161 42192 or email suveerbaxi@securemeters.com

About the Event and its background

Dharohar and PN Choyal Memorial Trust initiated the Understanding art series in 2016 in order to start discussions about Indian Art and Culture and through it, our history. The team has been inviting scholars to share their knowledge.

In its first iteration, Understanding Art provided an overview of the history of Art in India and the West up to the present day. In 2017, experts on Indian painting traced the development of this art from across the sub-continent and focused on its story telling aspects. The past series has been interesting and has helped the participants gain a perspective of Indian art and how it developed over the years.

Indian Art has been enriched the various cultures it has come in contact with; this process is not a modern one and has been ongoing since millenia. The impact of Indian art is not limited to that left by people who colonised India; over the centuries India has borrowed techniques and idioms when they were found to serve art better. Allowing other cultures to influence ours has enriched our culture and is an important part of the developments we see in art today. Notwithstanding that, our own forms of art must sustain if we are to develop and adapt with self-confidence; a recognition of your strengths is a necessary condition; it gives the courage to adopt to new and better ways.

This year, the focus of the series is on the art and architecture of temples in India, many of which date back to more than 1,000 years. The history of India is reflected in its great temples, built by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains throughout the sub-continent. These magnificent architectural specimens are a repository of the social history of the country and among the best specimens of Indian aesthetic sensibilities.